State of the Union

[muscadine]

Bush sez:
To lift the standards of our public schools, we achieved historic education reform – which must now be carried out in every school, and every classroom, so that every child in America can read, and learn, and succeed in life.

Locke responds just fine:
Democrats worked with President Bush to pass a law that demands more of our students and invests more in our schools. But his budget fails to give communities the help they need to meet these new, high standards. We say we want to leave no child behind, but our schools need more than kind words about education from Washington, D.C. -- we need a real partnership to renew our schools.

Bush sez:
To protect our country, we reorganized our government and created the Department of Homeland Security – which is mobilizing against the threats of a new era.

Again, Locke:
Now, a year and a half after September 11th, America is still far too vulnerable. Last year Congress authorized $2.5 billion in vital new resources to protect our citizens -- for equipment for firefighters and police, to protect ports, to guard against bioterrorism, to secure nuclear power plants, and more. It's hard to believe, but President Bush actually refused to release the money. Republicans now say we can't afford it. Democrats say: If we're serious about protecting our homeland, we can and we must.

Bush sez:
To bring our economy out of recession, we delivered the largest tax relief in a generation.

Locke gives a more realistic picture:
Today, the economy is limping along. Some say it's a recovery, but for far too many Americans there's no recovery in our states and cities. There's no recovery in our rural communities. There's no recovery for working Americans and for those searching for jobs to feed and clothe their families. After gaining 22 million jobs in eight years, we've now lost two million jobs in the last two years since President Bush took office – 100,000 jobs lost last month alone. Two years ago, the federal budget was in surplus. Now, this administration's policies will produce massive deficits of over a trillion dollars over the next decade. These policies have powerful and painful consequences. States and cities now face our worst budget crises since World War II. We're being forced to cut vital services from police to fire to health care -- and many are being forced to raise taxes.

Bush sez:
To insist on integrity in American business, we passed tough reforms, and we are holding corporate criminals to account.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Bush sez:
After recession, terrorist attacks, corporate scandals, and stock market declines, our economy is recovering – yet it is not growing fast enough, or strongly enough [where is the proof it is recovering at all?]...Jobs are created when the economy grows; the economy grows when Americans have more money to spend and invest; and the best, fairest way to make sure Americans have that money is not to tax it away in the first place [Yes, look how well the last tax cut worked. About as well as "trickle-down" economics in general.]...I am proposing that all the income tax reductions set for 2004 and 2006 be made permanent and effective this year...Instead of gradually reducing the marriage penalty, we should do it now [If done right, this is not a problem. But nobody seems to want to acknowledge that the majority of married couples, especially in low income brackets or single income homes, pay less or the same as if they were single. And that most of these proposals favor the rich, have negative consequences, and are geared more towards tax cuts than tax fairness.]...Ninety-two million Americans will keep – this year – an average of almost 1,100 dollars more of their own money [How intellectually dishonest can you get? This is BASIC statistics folks! The "average" figures have been debunked over and over.]...It is not fair to again tax the shareholder on the same profits[So is it fair to tax income, and tax people when they spend it? This "double-taxation" buzz word is a bunch of malarkey used to justify tax cuts for the rich. Much like the "class warfare" BS.]. To boost investor confidence, and to help the nearly 10 million seniors who receive dividend income [Again we see deliberate misdirection. The vast majority of these are not poor seniors who are depending on this income to pay the rent or buy food. They are rich old folks.], I ask you to end the unfair double taxation of dividends.

Locke outlines the Democratic guidelines for economic stimulus:
It must give our economy an immediate jump-start; it must benefit middle class families rather than just a few; and it must be fiscally responsible, so we have the savings to strengthen Social Security and protect our homeland. Our plan provides over a hundred billion dollars in tax relief and investments, right now [details below] Now, as you heard tonight, President Bush has a very different plan. We think it's upside down economics: it does too little to stimulate the economy now and does too much to weaken our economic future. It will create huge, permanent deficits that will raise interest rates, stifle growth, hinder homeownership and cut off the avenues of opportunity that have let so many work themselves up from poverty...Think about it: Under the President's proposal to eliminate taxes on stock dividends, the top 1% -- that's people who earn over $300,000 a year -- would get more tax relief than the bottom 95% of taxpayers combined. That's wrong. It's irresponsible and it won't create jobs.

Bush continues:
These problems will not be solved with a nationalized health care system that dictates coverage and rations care[In other words, a national HMO]. Instead, we must work toward a system in which all Americans have a good insurance policy ... choose their own doctors ... and seniors and low-income Americans receive the help they need[In other words, people who can afford it should be able to get good insurance, and the rest should be on HMOs]. Instead of bureaucrats, and trial lawyers, and HMOs, we must put doctors, and nurses, and patients back in charge of American medicine[Yeah, we'll see. Read on.]. Health care reform must begin with Medicare, because Medicare is the binding commitment of a caring society. We must renew that commitment by giving seniors access to the preventive medicine and new drugs that are transforming health care in America. Seniors happy with the current Medicare system should be able to keep their coverage just the way it is. [OK, so far, sounds pretty good...] And just like you, the members of Congress, members of your staffs, and other federal employees, all seniors should have the choice of a health care plan that provides prescription drugs [BAM! What he doesn't say is that in order to get these prescription drugs, his plan requires seniors to give up their current Medicare coverage. And what do you think most of these other health care plans are? HMOs, of course! As Locke points out below.]. To improve our health care system, we must address one of the prime causes of higher costs – the constant threat that physicians and hospitals will be unfairly sued[Oh, that's nice. He only wants to stop the UNFAIR suits. Of course, the actual legislation puts a cap on rewards for ANY suit.]. Because of excessive litigation, everybody pays more for health care – and many parts of America are losing fine doctors. No one has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit – and I urge the Congress to pass medical liability reform [Frivolous lawsuits...like this one?].

Bush sez:
Our third goal is to promote energy independence for our country, while dramatically improving the environment [Did anyone else think he had trouble keeping a straight face during this part? No, seriously!]...I have sent you Clear Skies legislation that mandates a 70 percent cut in air pollution from power plants over the next 15 years[The Clear Skies legislation is (literally) a smokescreen for the administration's rollbacks of the Clean Air Act. It's that simple.]. I have sent you a Healthy Forests Initiative, to help prevent the catastrophic fires that devastate communities, kill wildlife, and burn away millions of acres of treasured forest. [Yep, better cut down all those bad, evil trees before they hurt somebody. How about instead PEOPLE DON'T BUILD OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FORESTS? Just a thought.]...Tonight I am proposing 1.2 billion dollars in research funding so that America can lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles.[That's one of the best things I heard in the whole entire speech. But then research into "the car of the future" is not new to this administration. And guess who gets the benefits of this money? Auto manufacturers and energy companies. So its not like Bush is swinging away frm his special interests. And there are plenty of skeptics about hydrogen powered cars.]

Bush sez:
Yet there is power – wonder-working power – in the goodness, and idealism, and faith of the American people...These good works deserve our praise ... they deserve our personal support ... and, when appropriate, they deserve the assistance of our government[And there is the key, in that last statement: when appropriate. The government is already doing this. Bush is proposing that government fund INAPPROPRIATELY. That's the whole point of the objection. Not that there shouldn't be government assistance, but that groups that receive that assistance have to meet standards of fairness and non-coercion.]. I urge you to pass both my faith-based initiative and the Citizen Service Act – to encourage acts of compassion that can transform America, one heart and one soul at a time[So now the government is in the business of winning souls? Scary.]...I propose a 450 million dollar initiative to bring mentors to more than a million disadvantaged junior high students and children of prisoners...So tonight I propose a new 600 million dollar program to help an additional 300,000 Americans receive treatment over the next three years.[Gee, we're accumulating quite a list of new and expanded governmental programs...yet we're cutting taxes/income. Makes sense to me.]

Bush sez:
And to meet a severe and urgent crisis abroad, tonight I propose the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief – a work of mercy beyond all current international efforts to help the people of Africa...I ask the Congress to commit 15 billion dollars over the next five years, including nearly ten billion dollars in new money, to turn the tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean.[This is a Good Thing(tm).]

Bush sez:
There are days when the American people do not hear news about the war on terror[But we never miss a day without hearing about Iraq...]. All told, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been arrested in many countries[No mention of all the other innocent detainees.]...In all of these efforts, however, America's purpose is more than to follow a process – it is to achieve a result[In other words, we'll ignore the UN if that's what it takes to get what we want. Does that make us a rogue nation?]: the end of terrible threats to the civilized world...Yet the course of this Nation does not depend on the decisions of others...

[I'm going to leave out the rest, mostly his long section on justification for war with Iraq. There was lots of "evidence" presented, most of it nothing new to anyone who is paying attention. What Bush did deftly do, though, was to lay all of it out there, and then ignore the question of why war was the only way to resolve the problem.]


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Democratic Response to the State of the Union

I'm Gary Locke, the Governor of Washington State. It's an honor to give the response to President Bush on behalf of my family, my state, my fellow Democratic Governors, and the Democratic Party. Tonight, I'd like to offer our view of how to strengthen America.

My grandfather came to this country from China nearly a century ago, and worked as a servant. Now, I serve as governor just one mile from where my grandfather worked. It took our family a hundred years to travel that mile -- it was a voyage we could only make in America. The values that sustained us -- education, hard work, responsibility and family -- guide me every day. I want every person to have the chance this country gave our family.

But like many of you, I am concerned about the challenges now before us.

Tonight, President Bush spoke about the threats we face from terrorists and dictators abroad.

Many of the young Americans who fought in Afghanistan -- and who tonight are still defending our freedom -- were trained in Washington State. We are so grateful to them, to all the members of our armed services and their families -- and we pray for their safe return. But the war against terror is not over. Al Qaeda still targets Americans. Osama Bin Laden is still at large. As we rise to the many challenges around the globe, let us never lose sight of who attacked our people here at home.

We also support the President in working with our allies and the United Nations to eliminate the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong Il of North Korea. Make no mistake: Saddam Hussein is a ruthless tyrant, and he must give up his weapons of mass destruction. We support the President in the course he has followed so far -- working with Congress, working with the United Nations, insisting on strong and unfettered inspections. We need allies today in 2003, just as much as we needed them in Desert Storm and just as we needed them on D-Day in 1944, when American soldiers -- including my father -- fought to vanquish the Nazi threat. We must convince the world that Saddam Hussein is not America's problem alone -- he's the world's problem. And we urge President Bush to stay this course for we are far stronger when we stand with other nations than when we stand alone.

I have no doubt that together, we can meet these global challenges.

But to be strong abroad we need to be strong at home. And today, in too many ways, our country is headed in the wrong direction. We are missing the opportunity to strengthen America for the future. Democrats have a positive, specific plan to turn our nation around.

Today, the economy is limping along. Some say it's a recovery, but for far too many Americans there's no recovery in our states and cities. There's no recovery in our rural communities. There's no recovery for working Americans and for those searching for jobs to feed and clothe their families.

After gaining 22 million jobs in eight years, we've now lost two million jobs in the last two years since President Bush took office – 100,000 jobs lost last month alone.

Two years ago, the federal budget was in surplus. Now, this administration's policies will produce massive deficits of over a trillion dollars over the next decade.

These policies have powerful and painful consequences. States and cities now face our worst budget crises since World War II. We're being forced to cut vital services from police to fire to health care -- and many are being forced to raise taxes. We need a White House that understands the challenges our communities and people are facing across America.

We Democrats have a plan to restore prosperity -- so the United States once again becomes the great job engine it was in the 1990s. It's rooted in three principles. It must give our economy an immediate jump-start; it must benefit middle class families rather than just a few; and it must be fiscally responsible, so we have the savings to strengthen Social Security and protect our homeland.

Our plan provides over a hundred billion dollars in tax relief and investments, right now:

- Tax relief for middle class and working families -- immediately.

- Incentives for businesses to invest and create jobs -- this year.

- Substantial help for cities and states like yours and mine -- now.

- Extended unemployment benefits -- without delay for nearly a million American workers who have already exhausted their benefits.

- And all without passing on the bill to our children and grandchildren through exploding budget deficits for years to come.

Now, as you heard tonight, President Bush has a very different plan. We think it's upside down economics: it does too little to stimulate the economy now and does too much to weaken our economic future. It will create huge, permanent deficits that will raise interest rates, stifle growth, hinder homeownership and cut off the avenues of opportunity that have let so many work themselves up from poverty.

We believe every American should get a tax cut. That's the way to create broad based growth. But we shouldn't spend hundreds of billions of dollars on a plan that helps neither the economy nor the families that need it most -- while making it harder to save Social Security and invest in health care and education. Think about it: Under the President's proposal to eliminate taxes on stock dividends, the top 1% -- that's people who earn over $300,000 a year -- would get more tax relief than the bottom 95% of taxpayers combined. That's wrong. It's irresponsible and it won't create jobs. Let's choose the right course -- the successful and fair course -- for our economy.

We have another urgent priority: homeland security. In this unprecedented fight against terror, the frontlines are in our own neighborhoods and communities.

And this one hits home. In 1999, an Al Qaeda operative tried to enter my state with a trunk full of explosives. Thankfully, he was caught in time. Now, a year and a half after September 11th, America is still far too vulnerable. Last year Congress authorized $2.5 billion in vital new resources to protect our citizens -- for equipment for firefighters and police, to protect ports, to guard against bioterrorism, to secure nuclear power plants, and more. It's hard to believe, but President Bush actually refused to release the money. Republicans now say we can't afford it. Democrats say: If we're serious about protecting our homeland, we can and we must.

Now, to strengthen America at home, there's much more to do.

You and I know that education is the great equalizer, the hope of democracy, and the key to the information economy of the future. In my state we have raised test scores, cut class sizes, trained teachers, launched innovative reading programs, offered college scholarships even as the federal government cut its aid to deserving students. Democrats worked with President Bush to pass a law that demands more of our students and invests more in our schools. But his budget fails to give communities the help they need to meet these new, high standards. We say we want to leave no child behind, but our schools need more than kind words about education from Washington, D.C. -- we need a real partnership to renew our schools.

Tonight, we also heard the president talk about health care. Too many seniors can't afford the remarkable new drugs that can save lives -- some are skimping on food to pay for needed medicine. On this issue, the contrast is clear. Democrats insist on a Medicare prescription drug benefit for all seniors. President Bush says he supports a prescription drug benefit -- but let's read the fine print: his plan only helps seniors who leave traditional Medicare. Our parents shouldn't be forced to give up their doctor or join an HMO to get the medicine they need. That wouldn't save Medicare -- it would privatize it. And it would put too many seniors at too much risk -- just when they need the security of Medicare.

And, finally, let's talk about the environment and energy. Environmental protection has been a tremendous bipartisan success story over three decades. Our air and water are cleaner.

In communities in my state and yours, conservation is a way of life. But the administration is determined to roll back much of this progress. Our nation should lead global efforts to promote environmental responsibility -- not shun them. And instead of opening up Alaska's wilderness to oil drilling, we should be committed to a national policy to reduce our dependence on oil by promoting American technology and sustainability.

Yes, the Republican Party now controls the executive branch and both houses of Congress. But we Democrats will hold the administration and congressional leaders accountable. We will work to create jobs and strengthen homeland security. We will fight to protect a woman's right to choose and we will fight for affirmative action, equal opportunity and diversity in our schools and our workplaces. Above all, we will demand that this government advance our common purpose and not pander to narrow special interests.

That's the vision of the Democratic Party -- in statehouses, in Congress, and in the homes of millions of Americans. We believe it's the best course for our nation. It is the vision we will work for -- and stand for -- in the coming years.

This is not an easy time. But I often think about my grandfather, arriving by steamship a hundred years ago. He had no family here; he spoke no English. I can only imagine how he must have felt as he looked out at his new country. There are millions of families like mine -- people whose ancestors dreamed the American Dream and worked hard to make it come true. They transformed adversity into opportunity. Yes, these are challenging times -- but the American family... the American Dream... has prevailed before. That's the character of our people and the hallmark of our country. The lesson of our legacy is, if we work together, and make the right choices, we will become a stronger, more united and more prosperous nation.

Good night and God Bless America.


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UPDATED:

From Emma Goldman:

The State of the Union by the Numbers

Total length of speech: 5,400 words*
Percent devoted to tax cuts: 10
On legislation to combat African AIDS: 6**
On the war on terror: 5
On hydrogen cars: 3
On race and affirmative action: 0

Axis of Evil
Percent devoted to Iraq: 25
Korea: 4
Iran: 1

Number of times "Saddam Hussein" was uttered: 19
"Osama bin Laden": 0
"God": 4
__________________
*New York Times transcript
**Initiative as a percent of projected 2003 budget: .1%

Comments

[rody.livejournal.com]

National Public Radio did an interview of Bill Frist, the day after the speech. Even though he is a Republican, I was impressed by his focus on the health issues (I know he is a doctor). He said that the amount of money promised to deal with HIV/AIDS was overlooked as really the most important part of the speech. (I think that's what he said...I was just waking up at the time). He presents himself very well in an interview.